The trend for including ever-increasing amounts of memory in these devices with faster access and performance needs has presented challenges to the integrated circuit industry that impose conflicting requirements on the integrated circuits. In order to accommodate the increased amount of logic and memory, smaller and smaller geometries are required to contain the functions.
Memories such as non-volatile Flash memory or dynamic random access memory (DRAM) maintain the data content by storing charge within a physical structure in the memory cell. However, the pursuit for faster performing non-volatile memory having thinner crystalline structures associated with smaller geometry technologies often results in damage of the thinner crystalline structure or memory leak through of the physical structures.
Many approaches have been attempted to maintain data integrity while improving memory performance and reliability in view of the less reliable crystalline structures. Approaches such as wear leveling, variable error correction codes, and extended parity schemes have been used to mask the reliability issues of the smaller geometry crystalline structures.
Other memory technologies not dependent on storing charge within a physical structure are making their way to the main stream integrated circuit industry. These technologies include Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM or ReRAM) and Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory (CBRAM), which can change resistance values when written or erased.
While these technologies show promise and these mechanisms can be utilized on any of the small geometry technologies, they have similar problems in terms of reliability and robustness resulting in limited production which prevents these technologies from reaching commodity status. The challenge continues for ways to provide consistent yield, reliability, and performance for popular commodity items like smart phones, digital cameras, global positioning systems, personal audio players, portable gaming devices.
Thus, a need still remains for an integrated circuit system with non-volatile memory. In view of the ever-increasing public demand to deliver more functionality, lower costs, and increased performance, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.